No Frills, No Thrills in Fixed Income – Harbor Capital Advisors and IR+M – 10.30.19

Summary:

Now On Demand.

Fixed income can be rather simple or quite complex. The last few years have generally seen explosive debt growth, increased corporate leverage, weakening investor protections, and a general weakening of credit quality. Many products have increased their complexity, and investors are often giving up liquidity. Given where we are in the credit cycle, a back-to-basics core portfolio can improve a strategy’s potential to produce the results desired from fixed income: diversification, stability, income, and insurance against risk. Join Harbor and two of IR+M’s Senior Portfolio Managers as they provide an in-depth discussion that will cover:

• Recent changes in the debt markets
• Contrasting results for unconstrained versus core
• How fixed income can help protect against market drawdowns

Speakers:

Ben joined Harbor Fund Distributors, Inc. in 2003. In his research-focused business development role, Ben acts as a client portfolio manager for Harbor’s suite of funds and manages relationships with institutional, corporate research teams across all channels, including Broker-Dealer, RIA, Consultant, and Bank clients. Prior to joining Harbor, Ben was an investment analyst at CDC IXIS Asset Management Associates, responsible for mutual fund/separate account competitive analysis and risk monitoring. Ben has also worked as a financial advisor with American Express Financial Advisors, Inc. Ben received a B.A. from Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. He is a CFA charterholder and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society Boston.

Sonya Morris has been Managing Director at Harbor Capital Advisors since September 2013. She is a member of the Investment Portfolio & Management team, which is responsible for the identification, evaluation, and selection of investment managers for the Harbor Funds and the Harbor Capital Group Trust. Ms. Morris has more than 15 years of manager research experience across equity, fixed income and alternative asset classes.

Prior to joining Harbor Capital, Morris was a senior consultant at Morningstar Investment Management, where she managed fund-of-fund portfolios and chaired the team’s fixed-income manager selection committee. She began her career at Morningstar as a mutual fund analyst, where she conducted due diligence on a variety of funds and fund families. She also edited the firm’s Vanguard Fund Family and ETFInvestor newsletters and served as Director of Training for Morningstar’s pan-European and Asian fund analyst team. Prior to joining Morningstar in 2004, she was a senior valuation analyst at ComStock Valuation Advisors.

Morris earned a BA in Finance and a BA in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MA in English from Northwestern University. She is a CFA charter holder.

Bill joined IR+M in September 1994 and is one of three Managing Principals. He serves as the Director of the Investment Team and is responsible for investment results and all investment activity. Bill is a member of IR+M’s Management and Executive Committees and participates in our Product, Best Execution, and Investment Governance Committees.

Prior to IR+M, Bill was a Vice President at Wellington Management Company, LLP. Before joining Wellington in 1989, Bill worked at The Vanguard Group and in Morgan Stanley’s Fixed Income Division.

Bill has a BA in Political Science from Amherst College and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Jim joined IR+M in March of 2007 as an Analyst. He is currently a Principal and Senior Portfolio Manager. With experience investing across multiple sectors, Jim is focused on Credit as well as CMBS and ABS sector management. Jim is a member of our Management Committee.

Prior to joining IR+M, Jim was a Senior Analyst at Financial Architects Partners where he was focused on analyzing and implementing sophisticated estate planning strategies.

Jim has a BSBA from Boston University School of Management.